The Astronomer and the Witch

Johannes Kepler's Fight for his Mother

Ulinka Rublack

The bizarre but revealing tale of the astronomer Johannes Kepler's long struggle to protect his mother from execution as a witch

An intense family drama that takes us to the heart of Kepler's changing world

Brings to life a small Lutheran community in the centre of Europe at the height of the witch-craze

Offers a fascinating glimpse into Kepler's world view, on the cusp between Reformation and scientific revolution

The Astronomer and the Witch

Johannes Kepler's Fight for his Mother

Ulinka Rublack

Description

Johannes Kepler (1571-1630) was one of the most admired astronomers who ever lived and a key figure in the scientific revolution. A defender of Copernicus' s sun-centered universe, he famously discovered that planets move in ellipses, and defined the three laws of planetary motion. Perhaps less well known is that in 1615, when Kepler was at the height of his career, his widowed mother Katharina was accused of witchcraft. The proceedings led to a criminal trial that lasted six years, with Kepler conducting his mother's defense.

In The Astronomer and the Witch, Ulinka Rublack pieces together the tale of this extraordinary episode in Kepler's life, one which takes us to the heart of his changing world. First and foremost an intense family drama, the story brings to life the world of a small Lutheran community in the centre of Europe at a time of deep religious and political turmoil--a century after the Reformation, and on the threshold of the Thirty Years' War.

Kepler's defense of his mother also offers us a fascinating glimpse into the great astronomer's world view, on the cusp between Reformation and scientific revolution. While advancing rational explanations for the phenomena which his mother's accusers attributed to witchcraft, Kepler nevertheless did not call into question the existence of magic and witches. On the contrary, he clearly believed in them. And, as the story unfolds, it appears that there were moments when even Katharina's children wondered whether their mother really did have nothing to hide...

The Astronomer and the Witch

Johannes Kepler's Fight for his Mother

Ulinka Rublack

Table of Contents

Timeline of Johannes Kepler's LIfe1. Introduction, 22. A Lutheran Court3. The Year of the Witches4. Kepler's Strategies5. A Family Responds6. Movements of the Soul7. The Trial Continues8. Other Witches9. Katherina's Imprisonment10. Kepler's Return11. The Defence12. The Trial Ends13. Kepler's DreamEpilogueNotesFurther ReadingIndex

The Astronomer and the Witch

Johannes Kepler's Fight for his Mother

Ulinka Rublack

Author Information

Ulinka Rublack is Professor at the University of Cambridge and has published widely on early modern European history as well as approaches to history. She edited the Oxford Concise Companion to History (2011), and, most recently, the Oxford Handbook of the Protestant Reformation (2016). Her monographs include Reformation Europe (2005), The Crimes of Women in Early Modern Germany (1999), and Dressing Up: Cultural Identity in Renaissance Europe (2010), which won the Roland H. Bainton Prize.

Contributors:

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The Astronomer and the Witch

Johannes Kepler's Fight for his Mother

Ulinka Rublack

Reviews and Awards

"Rublack has written a forceful book....It is a breath-taking account of a brave family who boldly fought for justice. A wide audience of readers will affirm the simple principle that history at its best is profoundly personal."--Early Science and Medicine

"Rublack tells [this] story with a novelist's panache. Even if you know what happened, it's a compelling book. She sketches the vivid details that make the time, place and characters come to life....The Tale of the Witch and the Mathematician--unmissable."--Mark Greener, Fortean Times

The Astronomer and the Witch

Johannes Kepler's Fight for his Mother

Ulinka Rublack

From Our Blog

Johannes Kepler, the astronomer who famously discovered that planets move in ellipses, presents an exceptional case we can reconstruct. Kepler got his assistant to paint an image of himself for a friend. This was just before Kepler stored up all his belongings to move his family back from Austria to Germany. His aged mother had been accused of witchcraft.